But the bank had a change of heart, hours after reports of Lorette Taylor and her brother Louis Paul Herbert’s troubles were published last week.

“It was a total surprise,” Taylor said. “Never in my wildest imagination did I think something like this would happen.”

After their father died in February, Taylor was tasked with finalizing the details of his will and distributing the inheritances to her sister and brother.

Taylor had obtained the bank draft — which is like a certified check, but the money is taken from a customer’s account immediately and held by the bank until the draft is cashed — after TD told her it was the safest way to send the large sum.

Herbert, 61, said he went to his local UPS store near Cornwall, Ontario, where he was expecting the bank draft — but it never came. With mounting credit card debts and no source of income, Herbert said, he desperately needed the money to survive.

What followed was a 10-month battle among the family, the bank and UPS that caused “unbelievable frustration,” Taylor said.

TD had refused to refund the money unless Taylor signed an agreement to pay back the bank if someone cashed the lost draft, which does not expire like regular checks.

By last Thursday afternoon, TD and the family reached an agreement — in the form of an indemnity contract that expires in February 2019.